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This dispatch was written in Russia, where law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine
(With press release from Nissan, details)
MOSCOW, October 11 (Reuters) –
The Japanese automaker Nissan will sell its activities in Russia to the Russian state but will retain a buyout option for six years, the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Moscow announced on Tuesday.
Nissan said in a statement that it had decided to withdraw from the Russian market, stating that the transfer of assets should result in an exceptional loss of around 100 billion yen (707 million euros).
Many other automakers have already pulled out of Russia since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in February.
In May, Renault, Nissan’s French ally, announced
the sale of its majority stake in the Russian Avtovaz
to a Russian scientific institute, apparently for a symbolic ruble.
The sale of Nissan’s Russian assets to state-owned NAMI will include Nissan’s production and research facilities in St. Petersburg as well as its sales and marketing center in Moscow, the ministry said.
A source familiar with the matter said the deal was done for “a token amount”.
“Nissan Manufacturing Rus’ transfers its assets to the state, an operation of great importance for the sector,” said the Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Mantourov, in a press release. (Report Gleb Stolyarov and Caleb Davis, French version Marc Angrand, edited by Nicolas Delame)